


Megrez

by Pfain Ryder (Cat_Moon)



Series: Angelfire Universe [5]
Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 15:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19396774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat_Moon/pseuds/Pfain%20Ryder
Summary: A tag for the episode "The Leap Back."   Al ponders new developments, and has an uncomfortable talk with Donna.  Takes place in the Angelfire Universe.





	Megrez

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this universe before anyone knew Sam had succeeded in changing history so that Donna did marry him. I decided to include her in the story after that. Couldn't have done it without her, as you'll see later...

I stood there on the roof long after Donna had left, staring up at the night sky and feeling the entire weight of the universe resting on my shoulders. Maybe it did. Except for Ziggy, I was the only one at the Project who knew all the timelines created since Sam began leaping. I was beginning to regret having such information, but I felt bound to hold it safe within me.

It was obvious that Sam wasn't meant to come home for good yet. I wondered if he'd known. From what I was able to find out about what was going on while I was in 1945, I doubted he was thinking beyond saving my life. At first I was livid, angry that he'd given up all I got back for him. Then, realized a sacrifice like that deserves honor. I accepted it.

Sam's leaps were not just meant to help someone in need, but seemed to hold some lesson for him as well. This time I had to wonder if the lesson was intended for him at all. If so, surely he would have remembered our simo-leaping. My personal theory was Whoever was running things wouldn't let him stay home without remembering all the leaps. Otherwise, all his knowledge, growth, and experience would be lost, and I didn't think that was in the Grand Design. If this lesson wasn't for Sam, there was only one other answer. One which left me with nothing but more questions. If it was mine, I guessed I'd failed the pop quiz.

Remembering what was in my pocket, I pulled out the small box Tina had given me. Sam had slipped it into her hand just before stepping back into the Accelerator. No explanations, but my name was scrawled on the top in his handwriting. So I opened it.

It was Sam's wedding ring.

I stared at the gold band. He hadn't been wearing it while leaping, but it didn't take much to figure out how he'd gotten it. Donna most probably gave it to him upon his return. She'd held onto it all those years, waiting for her husband to return to her. So why had he left it for me? Unless he remembered...no, he couldn't have any memory of the leap which changed his history and made Donna his wife.

There was another possibility, one drifting through my mind without conscious control, too crazy to acknowledge... Suffice to say, it was a strange leap. I'd forced everything out of Ziggy he was able or willing to tell, but wondered if there were some things he was keeping from me. That was a switch, giving me a taste of what it was like for Sam. I decided I wanted all the timelines after all.

_Part of me is Al_ , he's said. And how much remained so? Were we inexplicably bound by something which went beyond any other connection?

"What's that you have?"

I spun around at the sound of Donna's voice. She was standing in the shadows, eyeing the box I held with open curiosity. "Uh--" What to say to her? I hastily put the lid back on.

It was too late, she'd already come close enough to see Sam's handwriting on it. "Is that something he left for you?"

"I--" I couldn't lie. "Yes."

"What is it?" When I didn't move, Donna came closer. "C'mon, I'm his wife, I just want to know what he left you."

I caught a trace of wounded resentment in her voice. Could I blame her? I wasn't crazy about showing her, but knew I had no choice. I opened the box, exposing the gleaming band of gold.

Donna stared at the ring with a confused expression. "Why did he give you his wedding ring?"

I had no answer for her, so I said nothing. We stared at each other. Finally, I saw her eyes change, and knew what was coming.

"I'll hold onto it--"

In a sudden decision, I pulled the box back, keeping a hold on it. "No," I said, surprising us both.

"What?" she asked. "You can't mean you intend to keep it?"

"Yes, I am," I found the courage somewhere to answer.

"But why?" Again the bewildered tone. Except that I knew her patience was going to run out very shortly.

"He left it for me. If he'd wanted you to have it, he would've given it to you. He didn't. I intend to honor his wishes."

"Do you know what you're saying?" she asked. "You can be serious!"

I nodded, unrelenting.

"I know what you're thinking," Donna accused.

I shook my head. "No, you don't."

"Don't I?" she challenged. "You're more transparent than you think, Al. Do you think I don't know how you feel about him?"

How could Donna claim to know what I myself didn't? I was sure of only one thing. If Sam wanted me to keep it for him--whatever his reasons--that's exactly what I was going to do. "What I feel or don't feel for Sam is none of your business. Your only concern is my priority to keep him safe and happy. If I haven't proved it to you in all these years, then you're dumber than I thought." Now she was getting me mad. Ideally, we should've been on the same side. Sam's.

"And what about him?" she spat with more than a trace of malice.

"What do you mean?" I countered, mystified.

"You're all he can talk about!" Donna blurted. "Even when we had a romantic moment up here, all he could concentrate on was you."

My eyes narrowed in anger. "Are you saying he shouldn't have cared about the trouble I was in?"

"I didn't say he was worried about you, I said you're all he could think about!" she yelled. "He didn't even think twice about--"

_Stepping into the accelerator again_ , my mind finished for her. "I didn't ask him to go back." I heard my voice break. "I would have stopped him if I could."

"And would you do the same for him?" she asked, voice strangely devoid of emotion.

"You know the answer to that." _A thousand times._

"Yes." Again, that odd tone, as if one word said everything. "How can I compete with that?"

"Who asked you to?" I wondered if this was going to be another one of her 'I can't take this anymore' speeches. Generally, once through using me as a wailing wall for all her frustrations, she'd calm down again.

"Oh, I've tried," Donna continued, "to be the sacrificing martyr. Thought maybe if I did, I'd get him back. It seems to work great for you. Me, I'm something to forget about."

"Maybe if you did it out of love, instead of competition, you might have more luck." I wasn't pulling my punches, but then I was in no mood for her attitude. "If you really loved him--"

"I'd let him go," she finished for me.

As I watched in shock, she pulled off her own gold band and put it in my hand.

Donna closed my fingers around it. "He's yours." Then, without another word, she left.

I wanted to call her back, tell her Sam loved her. True, he didn't remember her, but then he didn't remember leaving the ring for me, either. The way I saw it, we were both in the same boat. What good for either of us to fight over someone who was lost to both of us? I wanted to call her back, but I didn't.

I let her go.

end

9/29/91


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